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OKCoin Founder Buys Hong Kong-Listed Firm in $60 Million Deal

Mingxing “Star” Xu, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin, has
become the largest individual shareholder of a public company listed in
Hong Kong via a $60 million acquisition.

LEAP Holdings Group, the construction engineering firm acquired,
announced the competed deal on Wednesday. OKC Holdings Corp, the parent
company of OKCoin, purchased about 3.2 billion shares of the company for
HK$0.15 (around $0.02) per share to achieve the takeover, it said.

OKC Holdings is now the largest shareholder of LEAP Holdings, owning
60.49 percent of its stock and having the same percentage of voting
rights. As a result, the exchange is a step closer to a possible
back-door listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).
Xu holds the majority stake in OKC Holdings with 52.32 percent ownership
through two firms StarXu Capital and OKEM Services Company.

OKC Holdings initially filed for the application with the HKEX on Jan.
10 to buy the controlling stake in LEAP Holdings Group, with the deal
closing in just two weeks.

Crypto exchanges are increasingly looking to opt for a reverse-merger
route to become publicly listed companies, rather than going for the
conventional IPO route which is a lengthy and complex process.

Just yesterday, the holding company of South Korea’s Bithumb exchange
signed a binding letter of intent agreement with U.S.-listed investment
firm Blockchain Industries for a reverse merger.

And, last August, Singapore-based crypto exchange Huobi took a similar
step, acquiring 66.26 percent of a HKEX-listed firm called Pantronics
Holdings for around $70 million.

Billionaire investor Michael Novogratz also chose the reverse takeover
route in July 2018, merging his crypto merchant bank, Galaxy Digital,
with Toronto-listed shell company Bradmer Pharmaceuticals to become
publicly listed in Canada.https://www.geezgo.com/sps/52855